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Brady Henderson wins final home invitational for Fort Morgan

Four Mustangs finish below 100

By Brandon Boles

Times Sports Reporter

Posted:
08/30/2016 04:30:37 PM MDT

Fort Morgan senior Tyler Wunsch chips onto the green on hole one at the Quail Dunes Golf Course in the Fort Morgan Invitational on Tuesday. Wunsch was one of four Mustang golfers to shoot below 100 in the tournament. (Brandon Boles/ Fort Morgan Times)

Before the Fort Morgan golf team took to the course for their home invitational on Tuesday, head coach Mike Gross knew they were fired up to play at the Quail Dunes Golf Course.

"I think the kids feel that since it is there home course, there is added pressure to do well," Gross said. "It takes them a few holes to get going."

Once the golfers settled in, the Mustangs were locked in. At the end of the tournament, the team shot one of its best team round of the season with four of the five golfers finishing under 100 and one golfer coming close to accomplishing that feat as well.

Senior Brady Henderson led the team once again on Tuesday with a steady round. He opened the tournament with a par on hole one and looked ready for a strong day on the course, according to his head coach.

"Brady came out and started from the get-go for us," Gross said. "He played well today."

Through the first five holes, Henderson sat at +3 with three bogeys and two pars. In the next seven holes, he would shoot six pars and a birdie on the par-3 hole eight.

The only true hiccup for Henderson in his round was on hole 13, where he shot a double-bogey. But on the very next hole, the par-5 hole 15, Henderson used a big drive and solid second approach to have a chance to putt for an eagle. He would sink the put to get back at +2.

From there, Henderson had three straight pars and a bogey on hole 18 to finish at +3. On the scorecards, he was tied for first place with Garrett Stansel of Silver Creek, but the scorecard tiebreaker went to Henderson, making him the medalist for his home tournament.

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"The reason Brady has been playing better is because he knows this is it for him and he has become more consistent around the greens," Gross said. "His approach shots are more precise and getting him in better positions."

Seniors Issac Oberg and Tyler Wunsch would finish second and third for the Mustangs. Oberg overcame a couple high scoring holes to finish at +23. He shot seven total bogeys to give him a chance to finish below 100 and also had a stretch of three consecutive pars on holes 11 through 13.

For Wunsch, he also battled back from a couple high scoring holes to shoot one of his best scores so far this season. After finding himself at +5 through the first four holes, he settled in and hit par or bogey on six of the next 10 holes.

The fourth golfer for the Mustangs to finish under 100 at the home invitational was junior Braxton Schreiner. Like some of his teammates, he started off slow with a pair of double-bogeys but got back on track for his best round this season. He shot bogey on seven of his last 16 holes and had a par on the par-4 hole 17, the hole that seemed to jump start his level of play.

"Getting Braxton (Schreiner) under 100 was huge," Gross said.

Sophomore Noah Clough was close to shooting under 100 with his round but finished just over at 101. He was able to get off to a nice start with a par on the par-5 hole 14 and a bogey on holes 15 and 16. Though he had a few high scoring holes, he finished with 11 of his 18 holes scoring a bogey or better.

Gross said the round was a strong one for his team and believes his team is heading in the right direction with three weeks to go in the regular season.

"The kids hung in there and battled today," Gross said. "We could have had some high scores with how we started, but we didn't. We came close to having everyone under 100 today."

Fort Morgan's schedule was front loaded with eight tournaments in the first three and a half weeks of the season. With just three tournaments remaining, Gross says having the extra time between rounds will be crucial before regionals in September.

"We have a good break here to go back to work on some fundamentals here," Gross said. "Having the ability to get back to work will be huge."

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